“Using Minimal Data to Save Lives”: Flooding is the largest cause of death and creates the most costly destruction of any natural disasters. While there is much data in heavily populated areas, many rural and poorer areas suffer because of the lack of information available. Cyndi will be discussing was to mitigate the terrible impact of flooding and how crowd-sourcing information can save lives of people that would have become victims. Cyndi is a professional civil engineer with an emphasis on flood modeling and drainage infrastructure. She graduated from Texas A&M University and worked at AECOM, an international civil engineering firm, before pursuing her Master’s degree at the University of Texas. As a National Science Foundation Fellow, Ms. Castro researched methods in which geospatial information could be used to improve current standards in flood modeling, specifically in data-scarce regions. Cyndi has experience working and volunteering abroad as a civil engineer. She has also worked on a variety of local projects, including land development, detention ponds, river erosion, and drainage infrastructure. She now works at Jones|Carter as a project manager for public drainage projects in the Houston metropolitan area.